Nokia unveils smarter Asha 501 to regain market share in India

NEW DELHI: Nokia globally unveiled the Asha 501, a low-priced touch phone with Internet access and built-in social media applications, here on Thursday, stressing the importance of India in the Finnish handset maker's drive to regain some of its lost market share.

The new phone, which will be available in the country from next month, sports the revamped Asha platform that will make it easier for developers to create smartphone-like apps and allow them to sell content from within an app.

To be priced around $99 (approx Rs 5,300), Asha 501 is a dual-SIM 2G phone with a three-inch touch screen and a design similar to Nokia Lumia smartphones. It will be available in the country from next month.

"We are launching it here in India because so much of our work is focused on Indian consumers," Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop said at the launch. "India is very important. It is the bellwether market that is very leading indicator of some of the trend," he said.

Nokia is betting on the low-priced phones with Internet capability and targeting first-time smartphone users in a bid to regain lost market share in emerging markets such as India.

Nokia expects the revamped Asha platform to become the bedrock for future affordable smartphones. The Asha 501 supports 17 hours of talk time and 48 days of standby time, which could be a great selling point in a country plagued with frequent power outages.